NASA’s Juno spacecraft made its 16th close science flyby of Jupiter on October 29, 2018 and captured stunning images of the gas giant.
This image captured by NASA’s Juno orbiter shows a multitude of magnificent, swirling clouds in Jupiter’s North North Temperate Belt. The image was taken at 4:58 p.m. EDT on October 29, 2018 (1:58 p.m. PDT) as the spacecraft performed its 16th close flyby of Jupiter. At the time, Juno was about 4,400 miles (7,000 km) from the planet’s cloud tops, at a latitude of approximately 40 degrees north. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / MSSS / Gerald Eichstaedt / Sean Doran.
Juno launched in August 2011 from Cape Canaveral, Florida, aboard an Atlas V 551 rocket, with the ambitious mission of finally seeing beneath the dense clouds covering Jupiter.
On July 4, 2016, the spacecraft finally reached the giant planet’s orbit.
Currently, the probe is in a polar orbit around Jupiter, and the majority of each orbit is spent well away from the planet.
This image shows Jupiter’s South South Temperate Belt. The image was taken on October 29, 2018 as Juno performed its 16th close flyby of Jupiter. On this occasion, Juno was about 21,600 miles (34,700 km) from the planet’s cloud tops. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / MSSS / David Marriott.
But once every 53 days Juno swings close to the gas giant, speeding over its clouds.
In just two hours, the spacecraft travels from a perch over Jupiter’s north pole through its closest approach (perijove), then passes over the south pole on its way back out.
During these flybys, Juno is probing beneath the obscuring cloud cover of the planet and studying its auroras to learn more about its origins, structure, atmosphere and magnetosphere.
‘Dolphin’ in Jupiter’s South South Temperate Belt. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SwRI / MSSS / David Marriott.
On October 29, Juno successfully performed its 16th close flyby of Jupiter.
At the time of perijove, Juno was about 2,100 miles (3,500 km) above Jupiter’s cloud tops.
